LA Lakers game used

[quiggle28]

does anyone know if there is a contact within the LA Lakers I could get in touch with regarding game used jerseys? I recently received one from this season that I'm trying to find some more background information about. thanks!

[sportscentury]

does anyone know if there is a contact within the LA Lakers I could get in touch with regarding game used jerseys? I recently received one from this season that I'm trying to find some more background information about. thanks!

Dan Ceniceros of DC Sports knows modern (and probably vintage) Lakers uniforms up and down. Here is a link to one of his threads:

http://www.gameuseduniverse.com/vb_f...ead.php?t=7671

The earthlink email address he lists is now defunct. His current email address is dceniceros248@yahoo.com and his phone number is 323.257.4898. His sources for real Lakers items are very good.

[quiggle28]

thank you sportscentury, I'll touch base with Mr. Ceniceros.

I'm just trying to find out if this Pau Gasol jersey I recently received from MeiGray/NBA Auctions. It was worn during the 2009 Slam Dunk event competition and I expected it to show very light wear but was suprised to see the jersey exhibiting some solid use - lots of loose threads, a small rip in the back, and pilling in the inside collar. I'm curious to know if this jersey was possibly worn for Laker games earlier in the season.



this is a photo from the game they played against the Knicks this season at Madison Square Garden, could it be a possible photo-match?

[sportscentury]

Quiggle,

It is not unusual for players to wear their real, game worn jerseys from earlier in the season for this event. It would not surprise me me one bit to learn that you obtained one of Pau's road gamers from the first half of the season. As suggested by so many folks picking the Lakers to take it all this year, your jersey could be even more special/valuable soon. From the scan you provided, I will tell you that this does not look like a Laker jersey that has only been worn for only one non-game event.

As for your photo-match question, you will likely not be able to photomatch the jersey to the low-resolution Getty Images that common folks like us are able to access from Getty's public site. However, if you're serious about a photomatch, contact Barry at MeiGray (see the thread from last week) and have them photomatch it to their high resolution Getty Images (they have access to Getty's digital photos). For a jersey in this price range, I believe the cost to you will be $100, but you should ask Barry.

Very nice jersey.

.

[quiggle28]

Thank you for all this information sportscentury, it's much appreciated. I wasn't aware players wore their own game jerseys for these competitions, as I always thought the uniforms for these events were prepared in advance and designed to be used once for this occasion only.

I'll take a look at the earlier thread about obtaining full resolution images from MeiGray, this would be a great piece to have photomatched especially if the Lakers do in fact win the Finals this year. Thanks again!

[sportscentury]

Quiggle -- I, too, was surprised by the information when I first became aware of it. I know it has happened, but I'm not sure how common it is (especially now since the NBA is overseeing these jerseys for marketing/sale). Like you, I had thought that the jerseys were made for the event and were held for the players to arrive at the All Star Game festivities. With this said, perhaps jerseys are prepared for the slam dunk event and the players simply have the option of bringing and wearing their own. In your Gasol case, the one thing that makes me question whether it was game worn is the MeiGray tag. Did Pau bring his own jersey, have the MeiGray tag sewn on at the event, and then wear it in the slam dunk competition? The evident wear on your jersey screams YES, but I'm just not sure. In addition to the photo-matching question, you may want to ask Barry at MeiGray about the slam dunk jerseys, how they were tagged, prepared, handled, etc. (his email is sales@meigray.com).

Worst case scenario is that you obtained Pau's slam dunk jersey at a terrific price (and it should be photo-matchable to the slam dunk event at the very least). He has really stepped up his game this year... and is finally starting lose his reputation of being too soft. If he had played in the '08 Finals the way he played for Spain during the summer Olympics, the Celts/Lakers series would have been a lot closer.

.

[mbenga28]

they were probably tagged after. here is Dwight Howard with his slam dunk jersey and it doesn't have the MeiGray security tagging.

[mbenga28]

Worst case scenario is that you obtained Pau's slam dunk jersey at a terrific price (and it should be photo-matchable to the slam dunk event at the very least).
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If I recall correctly, the players assisting the contestants were always in their warm-up attire so you wouldn't be able to photo-match the jersey.

So let me get this right, your jersey shows considerable use, if it was in fact worn in the first half of the NBA season but, I assume, the accompanying letter of authenticity says it was only worn for this event?

So say if you or someone else who won these other jerseys wants to sell them in the secondary market in the future, wouldn't a potential buyer be wary of the fact that the letter of authenticity says it was worn for this one event, but the jersey looks like it was worn for a number of actual games? How will you explain this to them? People will think that you have worn it and given it this unexplained "extra" use.

[sportscentury]

Originally Posted by mbenga28
they were probably tagged after. here is Dwight Howard with his slam dunk jersey and it doesn't have the MeiGray security tagging.

If they were tagged after the event, then the possibility that this is one of Pau's regular season road jerseys from the first half of the season seems more likely. He brought the jersey, wore it at the event, then turned it over to the NBA, where it was tagged and put up for auction with the others.

.
Originally Posted by mbenga28
If I recall correctly, the players assisting the contestants were always in their warm-up attire so you wouldn't be able to photo-match the jersey.

So let me get this right, your jersey shows considerable use, if it was in fact worn in the first half of the NBA season but, I assume, the accompanying letter of authenticity says it was only worn for this event?

So say if you or someone else who won these other jerseys wants to sell them in the secondary market in the future, wouldn't a potential buyer be wary of the fact that the letter of authenticity says it was worn for this one event, but the jersey looks like it was worn for a number of actual games? How will you explain this to them? People will think that you have worn it and given it this unexplained "extra" use.

This is why I suggested that Quiggle contact MeiGray to see if the jersey can be photomatched. If MeiGray can photomatch the jersey to Pau's in action shots in regular season road games from the first half of the season, no one in his right mind will question the seller's claim that it was game worn by Pau during the first half. Even if the NBA wrote a letter saying that it was NOT game worn, it would not mean anything in the face of a true photomatch.

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[BarryMeisel]

Hi everybody,

In the case of the Gasol, and this is true of most situations like this where a player from a non-program team is competing in an event where the team is supplying a team jersey, an NBA & MGG authenticator will take possession of the jersey after the event, and we will tag post-use.

We double-check the process by photo-matching the jersey to the event, but not to earlier games the player may or may not have played in the jersey. But it is common for a team to supply the player with a jersey that he has already worn earlier in the season.

Hope this helps,
Barry